Paz sure does not look like a typical Mexican
And the girl who played her daughter sure did not look anything like her.
shareThat's kind of silly...how does a "typical" Mexican look? There ARE some Mexicans who do not have that black hair, brown skin, and black eyes. It does get tiresome and old when ppl. assume that Hispanics or any other ethnic group are "supposed" to "look" a certain way. I have a friend who is fully Puerto Rican and has red hair, fair skin, and green eyes and she gets very tired of ignorant ppl. telling her that she "doesn't look Hispanic." There are some light-complexioned Mexicans; not all of them are dark. And Cristina did have hair black hair and black eyes. Cristina could have inherited her dark complexion from her dad.
shareI don't think it's that silly. Of course not all Mexicans are indigenous or mestizo, because Caucasians first invaded, then colonised, then immigrated to Latin America, with the result that all over the Americas, the more Caucasian you look, the more likely you are to have money and education. If work as a maid and don't speak any English, the odds are that you don't have a cleft chin like Ms Vega's.
The casting of a Spaniard with Caucasian features as a Mexican maid with no English reminds me of roles where in the past where Caucasians wore dark make-up to play Asian and Negro characters. It's kind of insulting. It's like saying you couldn't possibly find an Asian or black actor to play an Asian or black character.
And another thing! Christina's perfect US English couldn't possibly come from someone who supposedly just got here from Mexico and never speaks English at home. I know it takes a lot of work to make accents and grammar convincing, but it's not that much when you think about the money spent on sets, lighting, catering and so on. If the film's bilingual, isn't it worth the effort to make it easier for Spanish speakers to suspend disbelief?
Actually, Cristina already was fluent in English when she came to the States, so that point is kind of moot. Often, people who learn a certain language as a child often speak it without a foreign accent. I am sure Cristina learned English in school and possibly met some English-speaking kids.
Yeah, that is kind of dumb when they have white actors wear dark makeup to play black characters; for a role like that, then you need someone of the same race. But for Hispanic characters, since Spain is actually in Europe and Spaniards are actually Caucasians just like the English, French, Germans, Italians, and other Europeans, I think it does make sense that since Spaniards did come to Mexico and mixed in with the Native Americans that some Mexicans would have "Caucasian" features that include a cleft chin and light skin. Trust me, I have seen some full Mexicans with light skin and "Caucasian" features.
Actually, I find it insulting when ppl. assume that because someone has light skin, they don't "look" Mexican or Hispanic or whatever. It's like saying that someone from North America doesn't "look" American (which could count for most of the North American population) because they do not have Native American features. Although yes, there is sometimes discrimination against the dark-skinned, you can't say for a fact that it's an absolute that "no" light-skinned person would be in a maid's job. So I say Paz was a good person for that role; I am sure the Morenos had some Spaniard roots going way back.
In actuality, not all Asians are dark-skinned either; I see many Asians with light skin as well. And it doesn't make them any "less" Asian.
In addition, there are some Caucasians (Anglo and non-Anglo) who have dark complexions and features; I know one woman who is fully Scottish with a touch of Irish going way way back and has an olive complexion, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes.
Then even take a look at dark-featured John, Bernice, and George. Although it is unclear what exact ethnic background they are (besides white), they could pass for Hispanic themselves, or could be Irish, Italian, German, Scottish or a mix of any of these or any other Caucasian background. So it is not wise to rigidly categorize ppl. into these fixed ethnic or racial slots, esp. by their physical appearance; I do hope you don't do this in real life.
Native americans are actually classified as Caucasian even the darkest of Natives Caucasoid(caucasions) refers to skeletal structure not skin tone and the skin tone white encompasses many shades from pinkish white to olive skin(greek, middle eastern, Spaniard etc)
shareI agree that it is silly to use the term "typical Mexican" and it can sound quite insulting. However, I have heard that there tends to be a huge classist ditinction between mexican that look more caucasion vs mexicans that look more mestizo. This is what I have heard from people that used to live in Mexico City. The whiter you looked, the more likely you would land work in television. It is not "out of the question", but less comomon to see anglo latino's in the immigrant work force in the U.S. These kind of class distinction are common in other collonialized countries also. India for example where the "Bollywood" actors are very white. It's fu===up but it's true. So I do agree that it was poor casting.
shareThere are white poors in Mexico, for example, at the northern states like Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Baja California. etc. white population is majority. So if you were pointing that all white people is rich in Mexico you're wrong. The richest man in Mexico, and the 2nd in the world, Carlos Slim, is dark skinned.
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It was the spanish that colonized latin america first. Not caucasians. Not only are you an idiot but you are racist.
shareIt was the spanish that colonized latin america first. Not caucasians. Not only are you an idiot but you are racist.
YOU are the idiot. Spaniards are Caucasians. share
I wouldn't call anyone an idiot if I were you randir14-1. Not all of the Spaniards are Caucasian. Did you ever hear of the Moors? Not all of the Moors were Arab, and not all of them were African. Some of them were Black. Black, not Caucasian. So they are not all Caucasians. Stop calling people names. It's very childish, especially when you screw up yourself, just like you did by referring to the Spaniards as Caucasians.
I'm from this little rock called Staten Island.....
c.a.m.
you are an idiot the term Caucasian refers to skeletal structure not skin color for instance all Indians from india are classified as Caucasian. also the skin color white is a color that has many shades from the pinkish white to the olive skin color of the greek the middle eastern and yes the latino's
sharenews flash all and i mean ALL LATINOs are in fact caucasion. there are 3 so called races Caucasoid Negroid and Mongoloid. Latinos only fall under the Caucasoid definition
Caucasoid refers to skeletal structure not skin tone and the skin color white encompasses everything from the pinkish White you associate with the term caucasion to the Olive skin of the greeks also Indians are also Caucasian(from india)
Thank you!
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